The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has planned two public workshops to gather public input for how it can improve rehabilitation programs for inmates and parolees.
The department said in a news release this morning that it anticipates suggestions from organizations that run substance abuse programs, from academics and from employment services, among others.
The first meeting is scheduled for Thursday in Los Angeles in the auditorium of the Junipero Building at 320 W. 4th St.
The second is set for downtown Oakland next Tuesday, July 24, in the auditorium of the Elihu M. Harris State Building at 1515 Clay St.
Both workshops start at 9 a.m. Registration opens at 8:30 a.m.
The meetings are open to public and private interests including county agencies, faith-based and non-profit organizations, and companies that that qualify as Small Business Enterprises and Disabled Veteran Business Enterprises.
In an interview with The Bee last year, CDCR Director Matt Cate predicted that as the state's penal system drew down its prison population through "realignment" -- a program that sends some offenders to local jails instead of to state facilities -- that he would press for more effective rehabilitation and education programs.
The state has shed more than 20,000 inmates through attrition since realignment started on Oct. 1.
The department plans to establish re-entry facilities that will handle inmates as they near the end of their sentences and prepare to return to their communities.
CDCR also intends to strengthen community-based programs to assist former inmates during the first year after their release. Research shows that 12-month window is the most critical period for preventing recidivism.
PHOTO: California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Secretary Matt Cate in his Sacramento office during an Oct. 27, 2011 interview. Sacramento Bee / Randall Benton
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